GS-650 Tappet Clearances

[G0FHM]

I know....

The edge of the bucket sans shim would do wondrous things to the cam lobe! Not good things though!

J

[Agemax]

just checking lol. some people do make that mistake.
if your mate has a GS1000, has he got any spare shims lying about maybe?

[G0FHM]

He hasnt got any unfortunately..... He loaned his kit out to somebody he worked with that had a 550 a few years ago, and never got them back! (needless to say he doesn't work with him anymore).

I'll pop down and see Shaun in the morning at the local garage - He has most things tucked away in his drawers! I will need to make sure they are 29.5mm though, as some of the other jappers use 29mm, and I'd suspect the extra 0.5mm will make a difference!

I've been building car engines for years (including race Pintos), so I know the basic do's and don'ts. I'm just a bit of a late developer when it comes to bikes! The term "Mid life crisis" springs to mind!!

J

[Agemax]

some of the "friendlier" Suzuki dealers do a shim exchange service. maybe charge £1 or 2 per shim. Go straight to the workshops and ask a mechanic, rather than ask over the counter

[G0FHM]

That's interesting......

I know of one that is my "local" (albeit 35 miles away) that has profitem ad infinitum as their motto, and I doubt I would get any joy there.

There is B&B in Lincoln, and their classic chap, Tony is very helpful and will bend over backwards to get me what I need (even if they are a bit pricey!). I'll give him a buzz in the morning and see what he says. If anybody would do such a thing, it's them!

Ta,

J

[Nessism]

The valves tighten with mileage so I'd plan ahead and first take an inventory, then order enough shims to have on hand for your next couple of adjustments. For example: if you have 2.80's installed now, I'd get several 2.75's, 2.70's, 2.65's, and 2.60's. Places like Z1 Enterprises (in the US) will ship overseas if you can't find what you need local.

[tkent02]

Send a PM to Ghostgs1 on this forum. Ray is his name, really a wonderful person. He runs the Shim Club. He grinds the fat ones down into the smaller ones most of us need. He has a big stack of the 2.70s and 2.75s that you need, I just gave him a bunch of them last week. He ships internationally all the time. The best surprise is his price.

[G0FHM]

Ed,

I already have an inventory of what shims are where, and that's probably what I'll end up doing for the future. The mission for the moment is to get the 2 that I need, to get the bike running properly (it belongs to she who must be obeyed, and delay is not an option!), then I'll sit down and work out what I need and compare prices etc, as the budget is not all that "fat" at the moment. I'll probably end up buying them from the US, as having trawled ebay and various other sites for parts during the resto, it seems that US parts are half the price of what we can get them for in the good old UK!

J

[JTGS850GL]

Tom,
The engine was stripped and checked, new rings fitted as well as new stem seals, and the valves re ground.
J

By the way... If you had the valves reground, then you can pretty much guarantee that the valves are going to need the shims to be a couple sizes thinner.

[tkent02]

By the way... If you had the valves reground, then you can pretty much guarantee that the valves are going to need the shims to be a couple sizes thinner.

Not if they were done correctly. A good shop would shorten the valve stems to make them fit with normal sized shims.

[G0FHM]

Well, I've sent Ray a PM and will await his reply with interest.

I did have the valves out and reground them - Doing it the correct way with coarse then fine, and with the wooden stick, none of this battery drill nonsense!

I didn't think of the shims... As I said in an earlier post, most of my previous work with car engines has been either rockers (easily adjusted) or hydraulics!

J

[JTGS850GL]

Still sounds like the valve stems were not ground. Just the seats. That would have sunk the valves deeper and require thinner shims.

[G0FHM]

I haven't got the engineering equipment to shorten the valve stems, so yes, you are right, I will need thinner shims!

[JTGS850GL]

You may want to consider picking up a very thin shim as a reference shim. Something in the range of 2.50 or even thinner. That way you can get a true measurement on the clearance needed using thicker feeler gauges.

[Chris G]

I haven't got the engineering equipment to shorten the valve stems, so yes, you are right, I will need thinner shims!

Have you tied your local Suzuki dealer for shims, I know there no penny's but the gen ones I'd seen on flea bay were asking £3.95 postage made them far more expensive than my main dealer, if your only after two you looking a £8 + vat each! and there usually in by the next day! I had to change 5 but it was worth every penny she runs like a champ now.